'Every year is a bad tick year': Why tick populations are on the rise in the suburbs

If it feels like 2022 is shaping up to be a bad year for ticks in the suburbs, you're right. Tick experts say “a perfect storm of conditions” — climate change possibly among them — are helping ticks survive and multiply each year.

Holly Tuten, a vector ecologist with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and considered among the state's top experts on ticks, confirmed a recent increase in human and tick encounters and reported human tick-borne diseases.

Certain species of ticks are known for being the main vector for Lyme disease, which brings such symptoms as fatigue, rashes and even memory loss in late-stage cases.

Tuten spent her Tuesday conducting tick surveillance in downstate Pope County. She said her lab has worked since 2018 with other state experts to try to tease out an explanation for why the tick population is on the rise. She said climate change could be playing a part, but stressed more data must be collected before she could say for sure.

DuPage County Forest Preserve District ecologist Andres Ortega said there are many reasons climate change could be the culprit. He said milder winters and wetter summers have decreased the number of ticks getting killed from freezing in the cold and drying out in the heat. Those same climate trends have boosted the population of small mammals and birds whose blood ticks feed on to reproduce, Ortega said.

“It is a perfect storm of conditions that help ticks survive and increase in number year after year,” Ortega said.

Ortega said while it isn't fun to think about ticks, it is important to be aware of them and take precautions.

“I don't want to scare people so they avoid recreation outside,” Ortega said.

Tuten agreed and said even if there were less ticks in the area people should still take precautions all the same.

“It doesn't matter whether this year is worse than, or not as bad as, previous years,” Tuten said. “Our best practices for tick-bite prevention remain the same; it's not a sliding scale.”

“Therefore, whenever I'm asked, ‘Is this year a bad tick year,' I answer, ‘Every year is a bad tick year,'” Tuten added.

The Illinois Department of Public Health in recent years has created an online statewide “Tick Surveillance Map” at dph.illinois.gov. The site details the traits of different tick species and the counties where they are established or have been reported. Here are some precautions encouraged by the IDPH:

• Use EPA-registered repellents containing DEET or picaridin. Always follow product instructions.

• Treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings. Ortega warned permethrin should be used only on outer clothing and gear — not on skin.

• Walk in the center of trails while visiting forest preserves or other nature areas.

• Check your body for ticks after being outdoors. Conduct a full-body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas, including your own backyard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body.

• Check these parts of your body and your child's body for ticks: under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, the back of the knees, in and around the hair, between the legs and around the waist.

• Shower soon after being outdoors. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease and may be effective in reducing the risk of other tick-borne diseases.

• Contact a medical provider if you begin to experience any tick-borne disease symptoms.